and holds the first thing, the pardon of his
transgression, has and holds thereby and therein his growing sanctifying
and his final glory, yet the salvation which means our being delivered
from the evil that is in our hearts, and having our souls made like unto
Christ, is one which--free gift though it be--is not ours on the sole
condition of an initial act of faith, but is ours on the condition of
continuous faithful reception and daily effort, not in our own strength,
but in God's strength, to become like Him, and to make our own that
which God has given us, and which Christ is continually bestowing upon
us.

The two things, then, are not inconsistent--an accomplished salvation, a
full, free, perfect redemption, with which a man has nothing to do at
all, but to take it;--and, on the other hand, the injunction to them who
have received this divine gift: 'Work out your own salvation.' Work, as
well as believe, and in the daily practice of faithful obedience, in the
daily subjugation of your own spirits to His divine power, in the daily
crucifixion of your flesh with its affections and lusts, in the daily
straining after loftier heights of godliness and purer atmospheres of
devotion and love--make more thoroughly your own that which you possess.
Work into the substance of your souls that which you _have_. Apprehend
that for which you are apprehended of Christ. 'Give all diligence to
make your calling and election sure'; and remember that not a past act
of faith, but a present and continuous life of loving, faithful work in
Christ, which is His and yet yours, is the 'holding fast the beginning
of your confidence firm unto the end.'

II. In the second place, God works all in us, and yet we have to work.

There can be no mistake about the good faith and firm emphasis--as of a
man who knows his own mind, and _knows_ that his word is true--with
which the Apostle holds up here the two sides of what I venture to call
the one truth; 'Work out your own salvation--for God works in you.'
Command implies power. Command and power involve duty. The freedom of
the Christian's action, the responsibility of the believer for his
Christian growth in grace, the committal to the Christian man's own
hands of the means of sanctifying, lie in that injunction, 'Work out
your own salvation.' Is there any faltering, any paring down or cautious
guarding of the words, in order that they may not seem to clash with the
other side of the truth? No: P